Would-be terrorist sentenced in planned attack on undefended military facility

A Washington state man was sentenced to an 18-year prison sentence in a thwarted terrorist attack on a Seattle military processing center, as reported by the Associated Press via The News Tribune of Tacoma, Washington.

Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif (also known as Joseph Anthony Davis), 35, pleaded guilty in December of 2012 to conspiracy to murder U.S. officers and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.

Abdul-Latif’s co-defendant, Walli Mujahidh, pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges in December of 2011.

Using illegally obtained machine guns and hand grenades, Abdul-Latif planned on attacking the undefended Seattle, Washington Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) center. Staffed by unarmed administrative and medical personnel, MEPS centers are a network of nation-wide processing facilities for enlistees of all branches of the Armed Forces on their last step prior to shipping out to boot camp.

MEPS centers aren’t located on military installations, but usually found in built-up metropolitan urban areas. The Seattle MEPS center also houses a day-care center for children too young to attend kindergarten.

Back In Court…

According to Seattle’s KOMO, Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Greenberg stated “this was a real attack plot.”

Greenberg also noted Abdul-Latif “had been eager to take possession of machine guns and didn’t back out of the plan when he had opportunities to do so.”

Prosecutors also cited the FBI recorded Abdul-Latif and his co-defendant, Walli Mujahidh, as they discussed how eager they were to gun down people at the MEPS center as revenge for what they considered “atrocities” committed by U.S. troops fighting both the Taliban and al-Qaeda terror organization in Afghanistan.

U.S. District Court Judge James L. Robart stated “he found evidence that Abdul-Latif conducted surveillance of the military complex, ordered and purchased weapons and that the location of the target was the defendant’s idea.”

Besides the 18-year prison stretch, Judge Robart also ordered the convicted terrorist be supervised for 10 years upon his release.

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